Your Smile's A Thin Disguise
by Jan2StaMuse
Summary: A story of how money didn't buy her happiness, especially when she was missing the one thing she'd always wanted: love. D/N.


A/N: I like to experiment with my D/N stories which means they won't always have happy endings, but I always try to remain true to the characters. Anyway, this story was inspired by "Lying Eyes", another one of my fave songs. I suppose I could do the iPod shuffle challenge thing with all the songs I love but I'm too lazy Lol :)

A little girl living in a house full of boys in Manchester, England never got the attention she craved and needed from her parents. But as she blossomed into a beautiful statuesque young woman, she discovered a gift. A gift everyone had- really- but no one used. Or didn't know how to.

That young woman, now living in Seattle, learned early in life how to open doors with just a smile.

Years ago, when she was still fairly new to the city and unemployed, she met a rich old man whom she quickly charmed with a flash of her killer smile.

_If I marry him, I won't have to worry._

Those were the thoughts of the naive 22 year old woman. She had everything at her disposal: money, cars, clothes, servants, and a big old house that got lonely at night. Yet, she was missing the one thing she'd always wanted and that meant more than all those things combined: love. Every time her husband, with hands as cold as ice, touched her she wished she could be with...him.

The man who had less to offer but more love and passion to give.

"Nathan," she said.

"Hmm?" He barely looked up from the piles of documents on his desk.

"I'm going out for the evening, darling."

"Oh?" All of a sudden he looked interested. "Where are you going, Princess?"

How she abhorred that pet name.

"My friend's been feeling down since her break-up. She could use someone to comfort her." Daphne forced a smile as she walked to her husband's side for a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, Princess," he said as she walked to the door.

"Me too." And she was gone.

Nathan was no fool. He knew exactly where she was headed. As much as he wanted to confront her for her infidelity, he loved her and didn't want to risk losing her.

She drove through the night, feeling guilty about what she had been doing to Nathan, the kind man who did nothing but love her. She tried to love him back but it just wasn't happening.

True, there was guilt but there was a bigger part of her that lived for the excitement, the anticipation, of seeing the 25 year old man that made her feel the way she used to feel: happy. His kisses, his warm hands on her body made her feel alive and regret ever marrying Nathan.

So why didn't she just leave him? It would solve everything, right?

On the other side of town, a young man waited eagerly for the woman he met months ago outside the Armani store.

They were standing mere inches from each other, staring at the same display window. He the psychiatry intern wishing he could afford those expensive suits; she the young married woman looking for a gift for her millionaire husband's birthday.

They simultaneously turned in the same direction, offering each other a simple smile. Nothing spectacular. Just two people sharing a mutual interest in an Armani store.

Out of that initial meeting developed a friendship that quickly caught fire as the strength to fight the magnetic pull of their attraction grew weaker and weaker.

And so it began.

What they were doing was wrong, and they were conscious of that, but it only made their time together more passionate and addictive.

Then love came into the picture and they knew they had reached the point of no return.

His modest apartment, their meeting place of choice, was nothing compared to the lavish house she lived in, but someday- if she would allow him- he would give her everything she wanted. He would soon be a prominent psychiatrist and even though it was still a dream, it was one no one could steal.

She knocked on the door, anxiously waiting for him to answer. Although they'd been doing this for months every time she came to his apartment a rush of nerves engulfed her body. It felt new but familiar all at once.

He opened the door and found her standing there looking stunning in her expensive trench coat and designer dress. She could be wearing a garbage bag for all he cared and she would still look like a goddess.

"Niles," she said.

"Daph-," Before he could finish saying her name, she rushed to his arms crashing her mouth against his. They stumbled across the living room shedding their garments without care until they reached his room and together fell onto his bed.

"It's only...for... A while," she said between gasps.

Their moments of ecstasy never lasted more than a few hours.

Niles knew Daphne could never spend the entire night with him...not while she was still a married woman.

It was all too bittersweet.

"When will I see you again?" It was the same question he asked every time they lay in bed holding each other.

She opened her eyes, reaching out to him, her finger trailing the outline of his lips. "Soon," she whispered.

He nodded, running his fingers through her hair, pulling her in for a kiss. Soon seemed like forever to Niles...but he loved her.

"But next time I'll be coming back forever." She pulled away, giving him a farewell kiss, and left him with a smile.

Daphne walked into the lonely, dark, empty mansion she called home, determined to rid herself of that unhappiness. It appeared everyone had gone to bed, including Nathan. She reached for the lamp in the foyer, nearly knocking over...a vase? It was a vase filled with white roses, her favorites.

They also held a small card.

_I love you, Princess. I hope your friend is feeling better. I'll be upstairs waiting for you._

Was he mocking her, trying to make her feel guilty about leaving him?

She ran to the study, heading straight for the liquor cabinet and poured herself a strong one. Whiskey being her drink of choice.

Daphne stood by the window staring at the stars up in the sky, looking for answers. It was something she'd been doing since she was a child, but her worries back then were nothing compared to the decision she was faced with.

She told Niles she'd be back to stay forever. Of course, it wasn't exactly a promise but it was something she desperately wished she could do.

It had all seemed so easy back at his apartment but now...she couldn't go through with it.

Did it make her a bad person for deceiving him? Yes.

Was it unfair to him? Absolutely. But what about Nathan?

It was going to be another long night of wrestling with a decision she was becoming all too familiar with.

_Why did I have to tell him I'd be back to stay forever? He's going to be waiting for a day that will never come._

They loved each other but the guilt of leaving Nathan was going to drive her to insanity. It's a shame love found her when it was too late.

"I'm so sorry; Niles, but I can't leave him." Daphne drew the curtains, plunging the room into darkness, and began to cry. How did it ever get this crazy? Everything seemed so simple when she married Nathan because she'd be well taken care of financially, but her new life didn't change who she was.

She was still the same naive girl, the hopeless romantic who didn't have the courage to leave a loveless marriage for the man of her dreams.

That night, her affair with Niles ended as Daphne walked up the stairs to meet her husband with a smile that only served as a thin disguise.

THE END


End file.
